New Delhi — The central government is ready for a CBI inquiry into the death of Karnataka IAS officer D.K. Ravi if the state authorities want, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday even as protesting members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clashed with police personnel during their march against the Karnataka Government.

Making an intervention during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh said a delegation of parliament members met him and demanded that a CBI inquiry be initiated into the incident. "Some senior IAS officers have also raised this demand," he said. The home minister said: "I have spoken with the Karnataka chief minister and he has said he will send a detailed report within a couple of days".

"If the state government wants (CBI probe), then as soon as I get a representation from them, we will be ready for a CBI inquiry".

D.K. Ravi, a 36-year-old additional commissioner in the state commercial tax department, was found dead on March 16 at his official apartment. His wife found him hanging from a ceiling fan.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday by BJP member Prahlad Joshi, who is from Karnataka.

Joshi said: "We met Rajnath Singh to apprise him of the situation and how people are been treated there (Karnataka)". "I demand a CBI inquiry," he said, adding that the parents of the officer are also demanding it.

"The CID works under home minister of Karnataka against whom fingers are being raised," Joshi said.

Joshi's comments led to a protest by Congress members in the house. Amid the uproar, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the house briefly for 15 minutes.

"We are demanding CBI inquiry into DK Ravi's case. We dont have faith in CID or COD because its comes under state government only. Actually, Karnataka State government wishes to curb this case as a suicide. All the citizens of the state and students have faith on CBI, that's why we are demanding a CBI probe," said an ABVP protester.

The Karnataka Government has so far rejected the demand and asserted that the CID of the state police is capable of handling the investigation in the case.

Union Law and Justice Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda questioned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not accepting the demands of the people for a CBI probe into Ravi's death.

"The parents of the deceased are demanding a CBI probe. 99 percent of the people in the state too are saying so. As the state's Chief Minister, is it not his responsibility to consider the demands of such a huge percentage of people," he told ANI.

Gowda, who had met Singh along with the BJP MPs from Karnataka yesterday, urged him to order a CBI probe into the IAS officer's death. Earlier in the day, the BJP MLAs staged a protest march from the Karnataka Assembly to the Governor's house demanding a CBI probe into the case.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah is scheduled to hold a Cabinet meet during which a decision is likely to be taken on whether to refer the case to the CBI.

A group of lawyers also staged a protest in Bengaluru demanding that the Karnataka Government handover the probe to to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The lawyers, who marched on the streets shouting slogans in support of the deceased officer, alleged that the state government was trying to hush up the case.